Sean Vernell (Capital City College Group CANDI Camden Road)

GCSE English Lecturer, Capital City College

Election address

I teach GCSE English at City and Islington College and have written extensively on the need to champion trade unions "Fight the anti-union laws: no to austerity, yes to workers' organisation" and the need to fight for Further Education e.g. "UCU: Reconstructing FE and Adult Ed in a post coronavirus world" 

UCU positions: 

·       Branch Secretary City and Islington College 2003-2007, Coordinating Secretary 2007-    

·       London Regional Council and exec member 2003 - 

·       London Region NEC member 2007- 2023 

·       Vice-Chair Further Education Committee 2007- 2023 

·       NEC sub-committees: ROCC 2007- 10 and 2011 - 2014; Education Committee 2009 - 2011 and Strategy and Finance Committee 2020 - 23 

·       Founder member of UCU Left 2007 

·        NATFHE/UCU conference delegate 2005-2025 

·        TUC delegate 2007-2023  

Why I'm standing: 

To build: 

·       A campaign that levels up the sector and stops the race to the bottom over pay and conditions. 

·        A fair funding campaign for FE that puts Adult Education at its heart. 

·        A campaign against the far-right narratives that attempt to divide us. 

·        A campaign against government priorities money for war before education and welfare. 

and 

·       Represent London and East so that our region can continue to play a leading role within our union. 

·        To campaign against the ever-increasing managerialism that dominates practitioners lives and stifles our creativity. 

We have reached a point where one million 16-24-year-olds are without work, education or training. One in every five of these (20%) have mental health issues. Adult Education is in crisis. Millions of adults wish to learn and participate in education and training, but they can't. Not because there aren't the teachers to teach them but because successive governments won't fund adult education. 

Over the past decade FE has lost 25,000 jobs, one million Adult Education student places and our pay has been cut by 30%. Student numbers have remained the same leading to intolerable workloads for those who remain. 

Because of the impossible workloads and poor pay there is a recruitment crisis in FE. If the sector does not address this then Further Education's future is bleak. 

The breakup on of national binding agreements has led to great disparities between pay and conditions from college to college. Employers compete to see who can pay the least and offer the worst conditions. Why should a LSA in one college get paid £20K and in another £25K? 

We have shown that where branches have fought, we have stopped some employers forcing down wages and conditions. In London and East region this has meant the beginnings of levelling up of pay and conditions. 

But we can't finish the job of unifying the sector, through college-by-college battles - we need a national campaign.